Bethesda’s Indiana Jones will be an Xbox and PC exclusive

Bethesda’s head of global publishing, Pete Hines, has confirmed that MachineGames’ upcoming Indiana Jones title will be exclusive to Xbox and PC after a multi-console agreement was altered after Microsoft acquired the company.

The details:

• As reported by The Verge, Hines revealed during a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hearing on June 22 that Indiana Jones will be exclusive to Microsoft's platforms, with a day-one release on Game Pass. Before Microsoft's $7.5 billion purchase of Bethesda's parent company, ZeniMax Media, Disney had a contract with the company to release the title on multiple platforms, though this was later amended to limit it to Xbox and PC.
• When asked why Microsoft changed the contract to make the game an exclusive, Hines said Bethesda liked the idea of lowering risks by bringing the game to Xbox's Game Pass service. "The primary one, in my view, is what I said about reducing risk and trying to get to a degree of certainty," Hines said. "You’re dealing with a licensor who’s going to have a ton of feedback on what you’re making; add a lot of time to your schedule.”
• Since the acquisition, Bethesda has moved several titles to exclusivity, including the upcoming RPG Starfield and the not-so-successful Redfall, both of which had PlayStation 5 ports in development at one point. The FTC is now claiming that if Microsoft's $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard succeeds, similar changes could be made to franchises such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Diablo.
• This is the first time the company has confirmed any details about its release, with only a brief teaser trailer shown in 2021 and no release date given as of yet. After pitching the idea of an Indiana Jones game to Lucasfilm multiple times over the years, Bethesda's Todd Howard stated in November 2022 that the game is a "love letter" to the legendary film franchise. MachineGames, best known for the critically acclaimed Wolfenstein reboot, is leading its development, with Howard stating that the developer is doing "an incredible job.”

More Microsoft news:

• Microsoft has announced that the Xbox Series X and Game Pass will be priced higher in most countries, bringing the console in line with its competitor, the PS5. Game Pass will now cost $1 more for the basic tier, and $2 more for the Ultimate tier, with the changes taking effect in July.
• According to Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty, for a game to be considered "successful" for the platform, it must have at least 10 million players. He also stated that Microsoft's reluctance to enter the VR space stems from the company's desire to wait "until there's an audience there."